Being A Good Person Isn't Enough to Eliminate Racism
Almost every time a black or brown person is killed by the police, social commentators flood the timelines with lines such as “They should’ve complied”. But in Botham Jean or Breonna Taylor’s case, compliance wasn’t an issue. Both lost their lives in their own homes, where Taylor was sleeping and Jean was eating in his living room. And there was Philando Castille, a man who was shot after letting a police officer know that he had a gun and a permit for it.
There are countless other cases where black men and women have followed orders from the police and still lost their lives in the end. And as their stories make news, there are countless white, black, and POC social media users who feel the need to say “they should’ve complied”. What do you say to those who have complied? What do you say when you see people like Dylann Roof, a white man who murdered 9 people at a church in Charleston, and was taken into custody ALIVE?
What do you say to a person who can’t get out of poverty, no matter how hard they worked and “followed the rules”? What do you say to someone who was wrongfully terminated after working for a company for years without any disciplinary issues? What do you say to a demographic of people when legislators pass bills to remove the rights they fought for? Being a good person and following the rules aren’t enough to dismantle a racist system that’s been in place for hundreds of years.
Society portrays black people as thugs, lazy, and violent. And it doesn’t matter how many degrees you have, or what kind of suit you wear, society will always look at you as “less than”, just because you’re black. And because of this, any fight for equality is looked at as a threat because it has been taught that we are “less than” for so long. In reality, we’re not fighting to be better than everyone, but for the right to live, just like everyone else. Racism is more than just a legal issue, it’s a heart issue. The real work can begin when we get to the root and dismantle the racist perceptions that have been passed down to generation after generation.
So when we march for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others, it’s not to be “violent” or to be like “thugs”. It’s for our human rights. Combatting racism and police brutality doesn’t start with black people being “good”, it starts with society viewing black people as human and treating them as such.
-Anyssa xoxo
